The 330 ton Caroline was under the command of Captain James Fewson. She was of British
nationality, carried six guns and had a crew of 22 men. She was built of teak, had a copper
bottom, and two decks - one a poop deck for cabin passengers. She had three masts, a square
rig, a standing bowsprit, a square stern, a carvel build with quarter galleries and a woman's
bust figurehead.

The Caroline left St Katherine's Dock in London on June 2 and pulled in near Worthing
in Sussex on June 4 to load the rest of her cargo. She finally left England on June 6 arrived in
the Swan River Colony on October 12, 1829 after stopping at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on the way.
She was reported to have carried 60 adult passengers. One child was born during the voyage and
another was buried in Rio.

The 'ship', which is sometimes referred to as a 'brig', was built at Cochin in India by John
Crookenden and registered at the Port of Calcutta on November 21, 1825. In 1829 her owners were
were William Chapman, a banker from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Eliot MacNaughten, a gentleman of
Calcutta. Although many vessels of the time bore the name of Caroline as a sign of popular
support for the Queen in her disputes with the much-disliked George IV; but Lloyd's Register has
established this vessel as the same one whose earlier story was told by Ida Marriott in 'The
Voyage of the Caroline from England to Van Diemen's Land and Batavia in 1827-8'. Her captain for
the homeward half of that voyage was James Fewson, who then took the three Henty brothers and
their employees out to the Swan River on the next journey.

During May in 1829, 'The Times' of London ran the following advertisement in its shipping
notices:

For the New Settlement at Swan River, and will touch at Rio Janeiro, the fast-sailing and
newly coppered poop ship Caroline A1 burden 400 tons armed with carriage guns. This
vessel has very superior accomodation for passengers, having seven feet between decks. The
whole of the vessel being nearly engaged, such persons who may wish to avail themselves of this
conveyance are required to make an early application to James Henty, Esq., West Tarring,
Worthing, or 5 Arundel Street, Strand; Henry Dod and Son, Mark Lane, or to George Bishop, 28
Jewry St., Aldgate.

Thomas Henty's three sons, James, Stephen and John, were being sent ahead to establish a new
farming and pastoral life for the family in Western Australia. Prize Spanish merinos had been
purchased and a whitesmith, carpenter, shepherds and stockmen were signed on. They were nearly
all old employees of the family and came from West Tarring in Suffolk. They signed on to serve
Thomas Henty, gentleman, or his agents, as dutiful servants for five years in return for a free
passage, £20 a year, fuel and board.

Two sets of letters exist to tell the tale of the voyage and of life in the earliest years at
the Swan. One set is in the Mitchell Library in New South Wales and holds letters from Henry
Camfield who travelled as a cabin passenger. The other set of letters were written by James
Henty and were found among family papers in England. Marney Bassett had access to the letters
and referred to them in her book, 'The Hentys'.

Chartering a ship was an expensive business. 'Charter parties', or contracts, varied in their
terms and even though there is no surviving record of the one between James Henty and the
Caroline's owners, the 'Brighton Cazette' quoted a figure of £5 per ton a month. That
would make a total bill of £7,000 for the hire of the ship from May to November. In contrast,
the English Government piad $4.10s a ton a month to hire the Parmelia for its trip to the
Swan River a few months earlier.

Compiling a comprehensive list of passengers and crew arriving on vessels
during Western Australia's early history can be fraught with difficulties ...

For this voyage of the Caroline, researchers will be able to find passenger and
voyage details in a range of records held in the State Record Office and Battye Library in
Perth, Western Australia. Some of the primary and secondary sources consulted for this project
were:

NOTE: It is also recommended that Marney Bassett's book, 'The Hentys: An Australian
Colonial Tapestry', be consulted for a comprehensive account of the voyage, the preparations
that were made to bring it to pass and the fate of the passengers after they arrived.